those already back...would you do anything differently

[alsipd]

I would not go at the end of May
I would not go with more than two members of my extended family (too hard to get a consensus on food choice)
I would not skip any chance for extended evening hours
I would get an AP for my wife
I would spend more time in the parks and less time thinking about my next meal
I would get up earlier and stay up later (I can sleep when I am at work )

And most of all, I would stay in Orlando and not have to face the prospects of SNOW again ever in my life!

 

[elastigirlfan]

Next time....


I want to get to the parks at opening
I want to take advantage of morning EMH
I want to use photopass more - only got 1 pic using this and I wish I had gotten more
Won't schedule as many breakfasts - maybe one.

 

[mark&sue]

I agree with alsipd - never will we go at the end of May. And also not take four families all wanting to do something different.

Question for Mont Blanc and Gopherit. How long were your stays? We are hoping to go to SSR for just over a week then for a few days at Vero Beach but come back for a few days before flying back to UK. DH wants to go back to SSR but as we have already had to pack everything up I thought maybe a change to either VWL or BW? We are staying for two weeks what do you think?

Many thanks.



Susan

 

[Hanover]

I'd have checked our photopass pictures while we were still in WDW. This past February, we got home and some of the pictures were awful...my husband (who is only 5 ft. 8 )even had his head cut in half in some pictures with the princesses and Minnie! When we went in April, I asked the CM's to take one with my camera every time we got a photopass photo taken (I have a Nikon D70 which they use too) and checked right away to make sure we got a good shot. I guess they are too busy to check their own screens because not one of the CMs checked their screen to see if they got a good shot. Too bad because we'd have bought the pictures if they were decent!

 

[KAG Mom]

The things I would do differently...

*never go in July again-HOT, HOT, HOT!!!
*go early everyday
*follow the WDW unofficial guide-we tried it our last day at AK and it worked great!
*don't always depend on FASTPASS
*Go on the Stitch ride at Magic Kingdom
*wait one hour for test track

That being said, we had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back! (Just not in the summer!)

 

[sandieb]

A couple of folks have said they would not go at the end of May. How come? Sandie

 

[mark&sue]

I usually go in October and this year we went at the end of May.

It was: too busy, too wet and too hot. (compared to October!)

Have just booked my flight from London to Orlando October 2006. The virgin flight I wanted was full already so had to go with British Airways. We have school holidays at end of May and end of October. I believe you have school holidays at the end of May but not October so October really suits us.

Only 14 months to go!



Susan

 

[goodferry]

What I would do differently;

-Not sure I would do the dining plan again unless it was free. If it's free, it's a great deal. Even if you are paying for it, it's a good deal, it's just too much food for us!

-Not sure I would go in August again. It was not crowded, but glory was it hot!

-I would never try to spend the whole day in the parks again. We took a swim/rest break all but one day this trip and that one day was a mistake

-Next time I want to try to get to a water park, we still never have!

Things I DID differently this trip that worked;

-Planned my eating around my touring as opposed to planning my touring around the restaurants. Once I knew where we would be on which days, they I planned my meals around that.

-Used Tour Guide Mike. My husband loves him now, we didn't wait more that five minutes for a ride, not once, not one ride and we rode every major attraction and more

-Used a towncar service. We talked to several families that had trouble with Magical Express. I am sure a lot of it was not doing their research and knowing what to expect, but I love my grocery stop and getting to the resort in a timely fashion.

-Mornings are my friend, we were always at rope drop and never regreted it

-Did a backstage tour. We did Keys to the Kingdom and it was incredible and fun, I will try to do a tour each trip from now on.

-Went to see La Nouba, it was worth every penny.

 

[CanadianPaco]

I would go again in August but LATE August when school is back.
I would eat a Mickey Bar EVERY day.
I would hunt down that place that sells Dole Whips instead of settling for frozen lemonade - which are still wonderful!
I would stay at a moderate AND rent a car!
I would worry less about where we'll eat and just let the magic happen!
More people watching and less money watching.
Plan more and ask more, because just like Christmas, the anticipation is just as much fun as the event himself.
Marathon 2007??

 

[aaac]

Mark & Sue: I am going Oct.23-30. When is your school break this year? Should I be expecting a lot of people?

 

[mark&sue]

It is quiet that time of year, but you will notice a lot of people wearing UK Football Club shirts. This is the week of the UK school holidays. Our flights are really difficult to get but once in WDW the crowds are quite low.

I think it is a great time to go and you have the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot and its is Halloween.

Have a great time.



Susan

 

[trekker93]

Hi! My wife nd I just got back from 2 weeks down in the World. We had a great time but boy was it hot! Next time, I think we'll pick a cooler month. Also, we stayed at the Radisson Parkway and it was good. It is close to the parks as welll as the restaurants we like - Duncan donuts , etc..We were surprised by the severity of a lightening storm one night - very loud and strong! We went to both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon and preferred Typhoon Lagoon - especially the new tube rides - go on Pineapple it's the best!
Did anyone else notice all the ride breakdowns? We even had a mono-rail break down on us! It was very hot inside while we waited.
But we ate at the Grand Floridian and enjoyed that thoroughly.
We can't wait to go back but we're not sure when to go .

 

[jrogers345]

I am trying to figure out what the advantage is to the park hopping aspect. We go in October. Most of the parks close at around or before 8:00 p.m. and we have dinner reservations at night. I have heard that it can take an hour to get from one park to the other. If most parks take a day to tour, then what is the point of park hopping? why not do one park each day? Keep in mind that I have a 4 year old and 1 year old.

Can two parks be toured entirely in one day?

With a 4 and 1 year old, I hope you're planning on taking a break during the day. The last time we were there, we would leave the park around 2ish to go back to our resort for a break, rest, relax at the pool for couple hours. Then go to dinner and another park for the evening.

Every day we would see in the afternoon what we called "meltdown" time for the young kids. They would be tired, hot, cranky, crying, overstimulated with excitement and their parents determined to keep going for the rest of the day in the park. Now who is enjoying that???

 

[aaac]

With a 4 and 1 year old, I hope you're planning on taking a break during the day. The last time we were there, we would leave the park around 2ish to go back to our resort for a break, rest, relax at the pool for couple hours. Then go to dinner and another park for the evening.

Every day we would see in the afternoon what we called "meltdown" time for the young kids. They would be tired, hot, cranky, crying, overstimulated with excitement and their parents determined to keep going for the rest of the day in the park. Now who is enjoying that???

I am thinking that we will probably just do one park a day and leave when they start the overzealous meltdowns. My mom can handle the one year old because my mom can not ride any rides because of her back. My 4 year old is usually pretty good and can go a long time. The problem with going back and taking a break is that most of the parks close by 5 or 7:30 and then we have dinner reservations some nights at 6:00 p.m. We will likely go until about 2 or 3 p.m. and then go back and rest up before our dinner reservations. With the shorter hours, I figured it out on paper with different touring options and trully it may not be worth the $36 extra dollars for 4 extra hours. That is all we would get out of it plus we would have to deal with trying to hop with our own stroller as well.